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3399

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What just thinking today and seeing the senior class and wondered- when is it ever going to get better? I just feel like there are some legitimate really good players on this roster who has a chance to play in the NFL. The defensive line has some dudes. The middle linebacker is tough as nails. Have a really good corner. An offensive lineman that is going to play for a long time in the NFL and a couple of others that might too. The TE is impressive. Two WR's that can play. A QB that has some capabilities and a really good running back. It's year eight for the HC. I am not suggesting a change in leadership. Just wondering, what is it going to take? The team is 6-5 and truly might be at its maximum talent level that you can expect.
 


The Football Gods could chime in but won't this time.

We now know PSU is the real deal while USC is not.

Like Coach said in the presser that was a heck-of-a football game. We came out on the losing side but could have just as easily got the W.

As to the original point, play at this level consistently and good things will happen. We certainly have not done so this season. So yes, we need improvement and it starts with getting 4 quarters out of the team starting before B1G+ play and carrying it through. The talent level and coaching are mostly there. It's the lack of consistency that's gutting us.

Anywho, play this well next week and The Axe is back in Dinkytown.
 

3399 said:
What just thinking today and seeing the senior class and wondered- when is it ever going to get better? I just feel like there are some legitimate really good players on this roster who has a chance to play in the NFL. The defensive line has some dudes. The middle linebacker is tough as nails. Have a really good corner. An offensive lineman that is going to play for a long time in the NFL and a couple of others that might too. The TE is impressive. Two WR's that can play. A QB that has some capabilities and a really good running back. It's year eight for the HC. I am not suggesting a change in leadership. Just wondering, what is it going to take? The team is 6-5 and truly might be at its maximum talent level that you can expect.
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This year was so close, but too many key mistakes at key times in multiple games. This year's Gopher squad is a better version of Frost's Husker teams that always had good talent but consistently made key mistakes. I used to equate Fleck teams with making few mistakes, but the last two years have been different. Not sure if it's the turnover in assistant coaches or something else.
 



Panthadad2 said:
This year was so close, but too many key mistakes at key times in multiple games. This year's Gopher squad is a better version of Frost's Husker teams that always had good talent but consistently made key mistakes. I used to equate Fleck teams with making few mistakes, but the last two years have been different. Not sure if it's the turnover in assistant coaches or something else.
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We went four games straight without a turnover, so we can definitely avoid big mistakes a lot of the time. But yeah, I get what you mean.

At any rate, I'm cautiously optimistic for next year. Schedule is very favorable, should be a good way for Lindsey to lean into a starting job that he I hope keeps for the next 4 years.
 

3399 said:
What just thinking today and seeing the senior class and wondered- when is it ever going to get better? I just feel like there are some legitimate really good players on this roster who has a chance to play in the NFL. The defensive line has some dudes. The middle linebacker is tough as nails. Have a really good corner. An offensive lineman that is going to play for a long time in the NFL and a couple of others that might too. The TE is impressive. Two WR's that can play. A QB that has some capabilities and a really good running back. It's year eight for the HC. I am not suggesting a change in leadership. Just wondering, what is it going to take? The team is 6-5 and truly might be at its maximum talent level that you can expect.
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It really comes down to what your expectations for the program are. The reality of the college football landscape is that there is a ceiling for us and the majority of the other programs who are not part of the elite upper group.

For a school like Minnesota the hope is to be around the upper part of that second tier and from time to time bust through with a great season like 2019. For some that isn't good enough, for me I am good with us having a competitive program like we have right now and I really don't see a scenario where we can bust through and consistently be in that upper group in the current landscape.
 





ergopher said:
We went four games straight without a turnover, so we can definitely avoid big mistakes a lot of the time. But yeah, I get what you mean.

At any rate, I'm cautiously optimistic for next year. Schedule is very favorable, should be a good way for Lindsey to lean into a starting job that he I hope keeps for the next 4 years.
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That 4-game stretch was the anomaly. The Gophs have a losing record against Power 4 teams. To me, this season is a disappointment given the talent and that the team has been relatively healthy compared to the past three years.

Lost to a good PSU team.
Lost to an above average (barely) Iowa team.
Lost to a mediocre Michigan team.
Lost to a below average North Carolina team.
Lost to a below average Rutgers team.
 

PJ is improving, but he has a ways to go. If he game planned and game coached to the level that he does almost everything else we would win more. We were PJ being a better game coach away from a very special year.
 

ergopher said:
We went four games straight without a turnover, so we can definitely avoid big mistakes a lot of the time. But yeah, I get what you mean.

At any rate, I'm cautiously optimistic for next year. Schedule is very favorable, should be a good way for Lindsey to lean into a starting job that he I hope keeps for the next 4 years.
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I don't know. They lose a lot. Obviously it's impossible to project with the portal, but we know very little about how Lindsey will do at this level (if he's even the starting QB), the WR group is mostly more unknowns and they lose a lot on defense.
 

MNVCGUY said:
It really comes down to what your expectations for the program are. The reality of the college football landscape is that there is a ceiling for us and the majority of the other programs who are not part of the elite upper group.

For a school like Minnesota the hope is to be around the upper part of that second tier and from time to time bust through with a great season like 2019. For some that isn't good enough, for me I am good with us having a competitive program like we have right now and I really don't see a scenario where we can bust through and consistently be in that upper group in the current landscape.
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Hit the field goal against North Carolina and stop the fake punt today and we are likely sitting at 8-3. No offside on the kick against Michigan and Taylor not dinged for Rutgers and who knows? Of course, a couple of the wins could certainly have gone the other way. I'm with you. I've enjoyed this year and am going to miss watching this group of seniors next year.

Been watching the Gophers since Bobby Bell and Sandy Stephens. Don't want to hear the crap about being satisfied with moral victories or settling for mediocrity. Am a realist instead of a keyboard warrior. This is who we are.
 



The game style Fleck likes to play, we are going to have to continue to sit on pins and needles and grind for every win. Ball possession, low turnovers are great, but usually these games end up being close games in general. The good news is most games we are in the game and we will have some upsets and big wins to cheer about. The bad news it usually leads to more disappointing losses when we can't pull away from lower level teams. My opinion is until we find another gear to pursue more consistent offensive scoring, its going to be hard to get to the college football playoffs. We settle for too many FG attempts. We lack the consistency on big explosive plays to score quickly or pull away from a team we need to be able to.

Another moral victory today is what most would say:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

The coaching staff must consider this season a disappointment. Experienced lines with talent, good corners, young safeties that turned out pretty good, good RBs, better WRs than we've had recently and a very good QB by our standards. With a cyclical program, this should've been considered a season where we had a chance. Maybe not a championship, but a really good team.

But the lines, in particular, underperformed. We also had bad mistakes at bad times, costing us games. The UNC, Rutgers and Michigan games were blown opportunities. Too much inconsistency all around.

When you have decent talent that is old like we have this year, you have to take advantage of it. We didn't.
 

Mulligan said:
Hit the field goal against North Carolina and stop the fake punt today and we are likely sitting at 8-3. No offside on the kick against Michigan and Taylor not dinged for Rutgers and who knows? Of course, a couple of the wins could certainly have gone the other way. I'm with you. I've enjoyed this year and am going to miss watching this group of seniors next year.

Been watching the Gophers since Bobby Bell and Sandy Stephens. Don't want to hear the crap about being satisfied with moral victories or settling for mediocrity. Am a realist instead of a keyboard warrior. This is who we are.
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I’m so sick and tired of this narrative, that’s not how football works. It’s fun to fantasize, but who knows what lessons would or wouldn’t be learned or what motivation would be gained or lost depending on which games we won or lost. This has been a very fun season, and I wouldn’t trade the games we did win (USC, Illinois) for UNC or Rutgers teams that are ultimately just fine.

Plus, I feel like this has been a big learning year for the coaching staff (Iowa game comes to mind) and since that game I don’t feel like coaching has been as huge a problem as it was before. Even in our losses to Michigan and Rutgers, I did not think much about PJ’s coaching abilities as opposed to the past few years where the collective opinion was to lock Fleck in his office on gameday. I think he coached a good game today, and that the team as a whole just made one too many mistakes despite fighting hard. Beating #4 is hard when you lose the turnover battle. Excited for what the coming years of the Fleck era look like, he’s looked like a totally new coach in the latter two thirds of this season. Let’s deny Sconnie a bowl and give PJ a mayo bath.
 

In football in 2024 it's all about the QB. So your question of, when will it get better? It will happen when/if we hit big on QB. Brosmer is solid, but he isn't winning us games on his own. As we aren't out spending other teams, we need to find that under the radar guy that is way better than his recruit ranking or pick up a 4* kid who didn't work at a huge school that clicks here.

I'll admit I'm nervous next year, that's a lot to put on a 3* kid who has had 0 playing time. I'd be very interested in Lincoln Keinholz (from SD) if he were to leave tOSU.
 

End of the day I think the same teams that had a real shot at a Natty / Conference Titles pre NIL are the same teams that have a shot with NIL.
 

Came to the realization a long time ago there is a ceiling for this program.

I am good with getting to a bowl game on an annual basis / semi annual basis.

Under the current regime the program has been competitive. Not sure there is anything to be disappointed about.
 

Gopherchase said:
PJ is improving, but he has a ways to go. If he game planned and game coached to the level that he does almost everything else we would win more. We were PJ being a better game coach away from a very special year.
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PJ is not improving. PJ is regressing. Next year could be a 3-9 or 4-8 season. The hiring of Jerry Kill was fun, the hiring of PJ Fleck was fun, the last 5 years haven't been very fun. Losing games we shouldn't and falling short of expectations. We lost by 1 today, but we were winning most of the game. For me, losing by 1 or losing by 14 today wouldn't have made a difference, it's still a loss. 6-5 and odds are this team will lose to Wisconsin next week. The talent on this team will be worse next season. This team underperformed again, for the 5th straight season. I've heard the expectation was 4.5 wins, I never saw that. I saw 5.5.
 

Lou Brown said:
End of the day I think the same teams that had a real shot at a Natty / Conference Titles pre NIL are the same teams that have a shot with NIL.
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I mostly agree but a team like OR has benefited a lot from their endless Nike 💵. Brought in QB1, top receiver and some other top level talent.
 


GringaGopher said:
I mostly agree but a team like OR has benefited a lot from their endless Nike 💵. Brought in QB1, top receiver and some other top level talent.
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The group of teams at the top may have grown a little bit with open pay for play and unrestricted free agency but for the most part it is still the same teams that have a realistic shot at the title each year.
 

leib0039 said:
In football in 2024 it's all about the QB. So your question of, when will it get better? It will happen when/if we hit big on QB. Brosmer is solid, but he isn't winning us games on his own. As we aren't out spending other teams, we need to find that under the radar guy that is way better than his recruit ranking or pick up a 4* kid who didn't work at a huge school that clicks here.

I'll admit I'm nervous next year, that's a lot to put on a 3* kid who has had 0 playing time. I'd be very interested in Lincoln Keinholz (from SD) if he were to leave tOSU.
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Did you see something during the bowl game last year that made you think he had that “it” factor? It would be literally the exact same thing as starting Lindsay
 

Kill used to say that we just don't have much margin for error. The same is true today IMHO. For us to have a great year, the stars will have to align (few injuries, luck out with some recruits/transfers and get a few key calls in close games, etc). I still have hope for that awesome year.
 

The way I look at it in the new BIG, 4-5 teams will be playing for the championship every year while the other teams beat each other up behind them. There are 11 teams behind us in the standings saying could’ve would’ve should’ve too. That’s reality unless something changes. Maybe those 19 Fortune 500 companies in Minnesota buy us a 12 million dollar QB in the future. I look forward to The Axe game next week and a decent bowl.
 

3399 said:
What just thinking today and seeing the senior class and wondered- when is it ever going to get better? I just feel like there are some legitimate really good players on this roster who has a chance to play in the NFL. The defensive line has some dudes. The middle linebacker is tough as nails. Have a really good corner. An offensive lineman that is going to play for a long time in the NFL and a couple of others that might too. The TE is impressive. Two WR's that can play. A QB that has some capabilities and a really good running back. It's year eight for the HC. I am not suggesting a change in leadership. Just wondering, what is it going to take? The team is 6-5 and truly might be at its maximum talent level that you can expect.
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You can't compete with a bad offensive line. It would take a good offensive line.
 

Lou Brown said:
End of the day I think the same teams that had a real shot at a Natty / Conference Titles pre NIL are the same teams that have a shot with NIL.
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I disagree with this. There's more parity this year than we've seen in a very long time. Gophers would be utter sh*t this year if not for Brosmer, for example.
 

hello-world said:
You can't compete with a bad offensive line. It would take a good offensive line.
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The biggest problem on offense since 2019 is that every year there’s one area that is below average or even bad. For a few years it’s been the passing game/QB. Now we have a decent QB and OL stinks.
 

GophersInIowa said:
The biggest problem on offense since 2019 is that every year there’s one area that is below average or even bad. For a few years it’s been the passing game/QB. Now we have a decent QB and OL stinks.
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Yup, need everything to come together at the same time. Agree they have been good. They are not this year.
 

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